Stoke face competition from West Ham for Manchester City midfielder – report

After their cheeky bid to take England midfielder Fabian Delph on loan, Stoke City may have to get serious with news that they have more competition for the Manchester City midfielder.

Following interest from Stoke and West Brom, The Times reports that West Ham have now joined the list of clubs interested in 27-year-old Delph, who is available for transfer this summer – provided anyone is willing to cough up between £12million and £15million for the player.

The Hammers are targeting him following the departure of Håvard Nordtveit, who has left the London Stadium after just a year to join 1899 Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga.

Delph is the third City man on Slaven Bilić’s radar after Kelechi Iheanacho and Joe Hart, with the Nigerian still a target for the Hammers and Hart dependent on whether City would sanction a loan move due to his prohibitive fee and wages.

Mark Hughes also wants the former Aston Villa midfielder at Stoke, but is reluctant to hand over money because of Delph’s patchy injury record. However, the arrival of West Ham on the scene may speed things up in determining where Delph’s future lies.